Cherry Blossom Festival
by MaliciousScampers
Summary: Lee and his wife adopt a girl named Clementine. When his wife ends up cheating on him with a senator, Lee takes Clementine back down to Macon to get away from all the drama. The cherry blossoms are in bloom, so Lee takes Clem to the Cherry Blossom Festival and they have some father-daughter time. (AU where walkers don't exist).


Lee Everett and his wife Kayla Everett were sitting in the living room of Lee's parents' cozy home in Macon, Georgia. Today was the day that they were going to go to a foster home in Macon and adopt a child, but Lee wanted to talk to his parents about it first to see what they thought of it.

Lee's parents were mostly old-fashioned, so he was nervous about how they were going to respond. Would they be mad? Would they be disappointed? What if they end up being happy? That's the best case scenario, but Lee had always told himself to expect the best, but prepare for the worst.

Only one way to find out.

"Mom, dad, Kayla and I came down here to talk to you about something," Lee spoke up.

Lee's mother turned down the TV in the living room and gave her son her undivided attention. "What is it, son?"

"Kayla and I–" Lee held his wife's hand and looked at her. She smiled and nodded at him, encouraging him to continue. "–Kayla and I are going to adopt a child after we leave here."

"Why not just have a child of your own?" Lee's father huffed, clearly not taking the good news very well. He had just been informed that his son and daughter-in-law were going to adopt a child instead of doing in the "old-fashioned" way and having one of their own.

"Remember that doctor appointment Kayla had the other day?"

Lee's father nodded.

"The doctor told us that Kayla's body wasn't able to handle childbirth. If we had a biological child, she would die no matter what during childbirth. We agreed that adopting a child would be much better because not only do we get a child, but we're also helping a child see what a real family should be like. I know that you wanted us to have biological grandbabies, but we just can't."

Lee's father sighed, letting Lee's words sink in. Then, Lee's mother, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up.

"We're very happy for you, baby. We can't wait to meet the new child," Mrs. Everett smiled and hugged her son and daughter-in-law.

The couple returned the hug happily. Lee could hear his father chuckle slightly and join in the group hug.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Kayla and Lee hopped into the car and started their drive to the foster home. It wasn't very far from Lee's parents' house – it was probably about ten minutes away. They had decided to adopt a child in Macon rather than Athens because it would be an opportunity to let a child experience a bigger, nicer city than Macon. Sure, Macon was pretty beautiful during the spring when the cherry blossom trees started blooming, but it wasn't really a city – more like a small town.

Once the couple parked in the driveway of the house, they both took a moment to relax and breathe. Kayla turned to Lee.

"Baby, are you sure you want to do this? Because we can wait if you want. We have all the time in the world."

Lee looked at his wife and took her hand, gently circling his thumb on the soft skin of the back of her hand. "I've never been more ready in my life."

They both gave each other one last smile before exiting the car and walking to the front porch.

They left with a little girl named Clementine. She was about eight-years-old and had the cutest face and personality. She did have a tragic past, though. Clementine lived with both of her parents in a nice house in Warner Robins. Her father was a flight engineer who worked at the Warner Robins Air Force Base, so he was bringing in a good bit of money.

One day, an accident happened at the Base while Clementine's father was working on a plane. He took it out for a test ride to see if he fixed the engine correctly. Unfortunately, he didn't and he ended up crashing into the ground in a fatal explosion. The only thing Clementine had left of her dad's was his favorite hat, so she wore it everywhere, ignoring the adult figures who would try to ask her to take it off.

Clementine's mother was a doctor, so she could support her child financially, but she realized that she couldn't support her emotionally without Clementine's father. She wanted the best for Clementine, so she gave her away to the state. The state decided to send her to this foster home in the small town of Macon.

As the new family walked out of the house, Lee smiled at his new daughter.

"Are you ready to meet your new grandparents?" he asked.

"I never really had grandparents… they died before I was born, so I don't know what grandparents are like," Clementine frowned.

Lee's face fell and he felt like an idiot for bringing it up. "Well, don't worry, sweetpea. Your new grandparents are really nice."

Clementine's face lit up again. "I can't wait to meet them, then!"

* * *

"Dad, why are we leaving without mommy?" Clementine frowned, clutching onto her hat tightly.

With tears in his eyes, Lee shifted in his position from the driver's seat of the car to buckle Clementine's seatbelt.

"We're just taking a vacation, sweetpea. Mommy and I had an argument and she just needs some time to herself," Lee lied, buckling his own seatbelt when he finished with Clementine's.

Lee didn't have the heart to tell innocent little Clementine that he had walked in on his wife cheating on him with a state senator. He wanted nothing more but to just beat the scumbag to death, but then the thought of Clementine stopped him. What would happen to her if he had ended up killing that senator? If Kayla didn't want to be with him anymore, fine, but Lee refused to let that get in the way of his father-daughter relationship with Clementine.

"Where are we going to go?" the black-haired girl asked, looking up to her father.

"We're going to stay with grandma and grandpa for spring break. The Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon is coming up soon, so we can go there if you want," Lee forced a smile and started up the car. He wanted to make things positive for Clementine and let her be as innocent as long as she could.

"Yeah, I wanna go!" Clementine announced excitedly, almost bouncing in her seat.

Lee chuckled and wiped away some tears from his eyes so he could see the road. "Calm down, it's only Monday. The festival doesn't start until Friday."

It was spring break for the students of the University of Georgia, so staying with Lee's parents for the week while he didn't have to go into work fit perfectly. Although, he never thought he would have to plan this. He had called his father a few hours earlier, asking him if he and Clementine could stay at their house for the remainder of the week. Lee's parents had a soft spot for Clementine – especially Lee's father – so of course, Lee's father said they could stay. Lee's father had asked why, but Lee was too heartbroken at the moment to explain to him that his wife had cheated on him, so he told his father he would explain when they get there.

Lee pulled out of the driveway of their old house and began the two hour drive to Macon.

* * *

Lee Everett held his adopted daughter's hand tightly as they made their way through the crowded groups of people at the Cherry Blossom Festival.

"Oh wow, dad! Look at the trees!" the daughter, Clementine, pointed at a large orchid of blossomed cherry blossom trees with her free hand.

"They're beautiful, aren't they, sweetpea?" Lee smiled, looking from the trees to his daughter.

Clementine nodded. "Can we see the trees up close?"

"Of course we can," Lee said, holding onto Clementine's hand protectively as she guided him through the crowd of people to get to the orchid. If Clementine was anything, she was smart and determined. Lee really believed she could go far in life.

As soon as they approached the orchid, Clementine was already trying to reach for one of the cherry blossoms on the nearest tree. Unfortunately, she was too short to reach it.

"Here, let me help you with that," Lee said, reaching in front of him and picking the flower from its stem. He handed it to his daughter.

"Thanks!" she smiled up at him and put the stem of the flower underneath the front of her hat.

"Your hair is getting a bit unruly, Clementine. We might need to get you a haircut soon."

Clementine frowned. "But I like my hair the way it is."

"I know, but it will be much easier to take care of it if we get it cut. Don't worry, you won't look like a boy," Lee chuckled.

"Okay," Clementine sighed, looking up at the cherry blossoms.

"You know, I've never had my hair cut at a salon before. My mom used to always cut my hair for me."

"Well, it looks like she did a pretty good job at keeping it feminine and full of life," Lee smiled, studying the girl's black, curly locks coming out from underneath her hat.

"Yeah, she said that I always had my dad's hair, but I looked more like her than I did him."

Lee had seen a picture of Clementine and her parents before and he could definitely tell that she looked much more like her mother than her father, especially their hair.

"Can we go on a rollercoaster?" Clementine asked, breaking Lee's train of thought.

Lee quickly turned to face his daughter. "Sure, let's go."

Clementine smiled and held her adoptive father's hand tightly before practically running towards the rollercoaster.

Once they got off the ride, it was getting dark and Lee felt sick to his stomach.

"Clem, I need to sit down for a moment. I don't feel so good," Lee moaned from the pain in his stomach and guided them to a bench. He said down and reclined back into the seat, holding his stomach.

"You shouldn't have eaten all that fair food earlier, then," Clementine scolded light-heartedly.

"But fair food is good…" Lee whined.

Both Lee and Clementine let out a soft laugh.

Then, Clementine's face dropped and the atmosphere became too serious for either one's liking. "You and mom are going to get divorced, aren't you?"

Lee's eyes widened in surprise. That was the last thing he expected her to say. "What makes you think that, sweetpea?"

"I overheard you on the phone with her last night. You said that when we go back up to Athens next week that you'll pick up the divorce papers and drop them off at her house."

Lee sighed. He knew he had to tell her sooner or later about the divorce he and his wife were planning, but he didn't know how to word it or when to bring it up. "Clementine, sometimes people just aren't meant to be together. Kayla just… she just doesn't love me like she did the day we got married – and that's okay. Things happen."

Clementine nodded understandingly. Lee didn't know whether she truly understood what he was trying to tell her or not, but he figured she did. Clementine was such a smart girl, after all.

"I'm glad you adopted me, Lee," Clementine changed the subject, facing Lee.

"I'm glad I adopted you, too," Lee smiled at her.

Clementine quickly pulled Lee into a tight hug. Lee grunted a bit from the impact (plus his upset stomach), but hugged Clementine back just as tightly. They stayed like that for a couple minutes longer until Clementine pulled away from the hug.

"Do you promise you'll stay with me forever?" Clementine looked up at her adoptive father with fear in her eyes.

Without hesitation, Lee quickly responded. "I'll stay by your side even when the world is ending."

* * *

**A/N: Hey, everyone! I've been on a Walking Dead (video game) hype for the past couple of days after seeing the ending of Episode 5 in Season 2. Even before a couple days ago, I really wanted to write an AU where Lee adopts Clementine and walkers don't exist. I live in Macon, actually, so I thought that having some father-daughter time at the Cherry Blossom Festival would be perfect because it's actually pretty fun to go to it in real life (it's actually the only fun thing to do in Macon other than to go to freaking Walmart).**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this fic! It's a bit different than what I usually write, so please don't be too harsh with the criticism. Thanks!**


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